Category Archives: Tenkara Humor

A few weeks ago, I went fishing with my good friend Dennis Vander Houwen. Neither of us had been out in a while so we were really looking forward to a much-needed day on the water. Everything started off fine–we were in good spirits, the weather was good for February–all indications pointed to smooth sailing and…

With all the snow and cold weather, cabin fever is taking its toll–driving me slightly mad you could say. So I felt compelled to put together another set of tenkara memes. This is the fourth one. You can see past ones here, here, and here. Enjoy! …

It might not be accurate to call it a “non-tenkara” day. It might be better described as “the opposite of tenkara” or even “Bizarro World“. With all the local streams totally blown out, I decided to try to sneak in a quick fishing opportunity on a nearby lake. My family and I were planning to…

1. Trophy Shots You know the ones I’m talking about. The angler is extending their arms, holding the fish as close as possible to the camera to make it look twice as big as it really is. It’s even worse when combined with a fish-eye lens. Flyfishing is not an extreme sport. If you need…

Tenkara angler and magician Dennis Vander Houwen swung by the Tenkara Talk headquarters today (OK, technically my basement but “headquarters” just sounds so much more official) and wielded a little tenkara-related magic. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to attach your sakasa kebari to your tippet without tying a knot, watch the video!

Most people probably know Mike Agneta as the author of the wildly popular Troutrageous blog. But very few know that he is also one of the world’s preeminent authorities on Tenkara Sasquatch–an elusive bigfoot-like hominid thought to inhabit remote mountain areas and sustain itself by tenkara fishing. I wanted to know more about this fascinating…

It happens everyday. A perfectly good fly is mercilessly mutilated by trimming down its hackle, leaving nothing but horrific, ungodly stumps of barbules. These poor victims are scarred for life and nothing can reintegrate them back into mainstream fly box culture. They become the “untouchables” of their fly box compartments. You might think hackle clipping…

You might have seen my video about S**t tenkara anglers say. But here are a few things they never say… 1. Damn it! I forgot my reel! 2. I stepped on my line right as I was about to make the perfect cast! 3. I hope I have enough backing. 4. Do you wind left…

My first post on tenkara memes didn’t quite satiate my sense of the absurd, so I decided to create a few more. Whether they make you roll your eyes or bring a smile to your face, I hope they at least bring some levity to your Monday…

Well, now that Daniel has let the cat out of the bag that tenkara was a hoax all along, I have no choice to but to come clean and admit my role in the scandal. You see, I’ve been on the Tenkara USA payroll for years as part of a sophisticated network charged with spreading…

I’m sure we all could use some levity lately so…take a shot every time… A tenkara angler refers to a fly rod & reel as a “western” rod. Owl Jones refers to tenkara as “cane pole fishing”. There is a reported Tenkara Sasquatch sighting. Someone posts another post on “what is Tenkara?”. Someone else…

As I sit here looking at the aftermath of the recent snowstorm through my office window, I’m reminded of the cruel joke nature sometimes plays on anglers: the thwarting of fishing plans. You know, those days where you could go fishing, but the rivers are frozen over, or blown out. It’s a bitter irony and…

Ah, memes. Those ironic, sarcastic, or dichotomous pictures with allegedly clever slogans overlaid upon them, or the over-the-top videos (think Gangnam style) that go viral overnight are all the rage right now. They dominate social media these says. I happened to see one related to tenkara today and thought, “why not bring tenkara down to this…

A few months ago, I bought my dream car: a Jeep Wrangler. So what makes it a “tenkaramobile”? Well, first and foremost, it is the vehicle that will transport me to all of my future tenkara adventures. But there are a few other tweaks I’ve made to “tenkara-ize” it. Tenkara License Plates Much to…

I recently read an article in which a spokeswoman from the NY Department of Environmental Conservation stated that tenkara fishing on fly fishing only waters is technically illegal in her state since the law dictates the use of a “traditional” fly rod, fly reel, and fly line. “Traditional”? That’s odd, isn’t it? People have been…

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I came from a good family. I grew up fishing dry flies with bamboo rods on spring creeks. I learned all the latin names of aquatic insects and could tie patterns that imitated them right down to the last abdominal gill. I filled Wheatly after Wheatly with beautifully…

I’ve always been a fan of the “S**t People Say” video series and thought it would be fun to make one about tenkara. Special thanks to TenkaraTalk readers Phil Echelman, Joe Egry, and Kevin Fricke for being in the video. WARNING: This video contains adult language.

After a humiliating day on the water being outfished by bait fishermen, I had an epiphany. I’ve decided that I’m giving up tenkara. It was fun while it lasted but after seeing these guys outfish me ten to one with worms and corn, I can’t see any reason why I’d stick with a “cane pole…

A long time ago, I wrote a post about five common tenkara myths and busted them. With all that’s been written about tenkara since then, I still find it amusing when people tweet statements like this: Let’s carry that statement to its logical conclusion, shall we? 4 weight rods are a joke because…

You know you’re a Tenkara addict when… You can name more species of trout in Japanese than you can in English You wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat after having nightmares about losing your rod’s plug You feel personally insulted when someone refers to Tenkara as “dapping”…